Laos extradites suspects to China in drugs case

BEIJING (AP) — Police from Laos are handing over five suspected members of a drug ring to their Chinese colleagues in an exchange highlighting growing cross-border law enforcement cooperation between the neighbors.

Police said three suspects were transported to the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Tuesday. Two more were being moved Wednesday.

Police wouldn't say what nationality the suspects were. They were caught in Laos on March 19, 2013, in possession of more than half a ton of methamphetamine produced in the lawless "Golden Triangle" region encompassing parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

China stepped-up law enforcement cooperation with its southern neighbors in the wake of the killing of 13 Chinese crew members in an attack on their ships on the Mekong River in October 2011.